MHK President Ferhat Gündoğdu, who came to Trabzon upon the invitation of MHK Deputy President Hikmet Öksüzoğlu, met with the referees. While the meeting was held in the Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality Assembly Hall, many young referees and referee candidates attended the program. Yasin Kol, the referee of the Fenerbahçe – Galatasaray derby, one of the most talked about names of recent weeks, was also present at the meeting.
Ferhat Gündoğdu, President of the Central Referee Board, made statements about the agenda.
“CRITICISMS ARE EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD”
Stating that referee decisions have been frequently discussed recently, Ferhat Gündoğdu stated that criticisms are natural and said:
“Football is now played very fast. As the speed increases, violations and related discussions also increase. This is the case not only in Türkiye, but also in Europe. We prefer the criticisms to be at a level that will contribute. The constructive criticism we receive from the sports public is beneficial.”
President Gündoğdu emphasized that they carry out intensive training activities to increase the psychological resilience of referees and implement programs to increase the decision accuracy rate.
“OUR GOAL IS TO MANAGE MATCHES WITH HIGH ACCURACY RATES”
Regarding the referee meeting in Trabzon, President Gündoğdu said, “Trabzon is a very special city in terms of football. I had a promise to come here. We are very happy that there are many referee candidates. They are our future. The more they are trained correctly, the more they will serve football. Our goal is to manage matches with a high accuracy rate.”
“WE PREFER TO DEAL WITH THE FACTS”
Evaluating the criticisms made against Yasin Kol, the referee of the Fenerbahçe – Galatasaray derby played in the 14th week of the Trendyol Super League, Ferhat Gündoğdu emphasized that the evaluation criteria are different from the public opinion. Gündoğdu said, “Unfortunately, today, the difference between perception and reality is a bit clear. We prefer to deal with the facts. We look at the error rate in critical positions in the match, whether it affects the course of the game or not and whether control is provided.” Stating that comments made on square images are not healthy, Mayor Gündoğdu said, “We do not prefer to sideline such issues that are taken frame by frame and are open to interpretation. There is such an approach and it is seen everywhere, but I do not comment on them.”
“WHEN WE HAVE FRIENDS WHO DO IT BETTER, OF COURSE WE WILL QUIT IT”
Emphasizing that the development of the referees is the most important criterion, Ferhat Gündoğdu said, “When I look at the last period, the best result for us is for the players to congratulate each other and leave the field after the match. This is an indicator of the referee’s success. Even if there are points to be criticized, regardless of the result, it shows the success of our referees. This is what is important for us. They say, ‘Let him leave the refereeing, leave the committee’. When we have friends who do better, of course we will leave them, don’t worry.”
“WHEN WE HAVE YOUNG PEOPLE, I DO NOT FIND IT RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT FOREIGN REFEREES”
Regarding the issue of foreign referees, Gündoğdu said, “I do not find it right to talk about foreign referees while we have young friends in this hall. We have young people. Let’s invest in these young people and give them thought.” Ferhat Gündoğdu stated that they have introduced a new training-oriented referee instruction, national training program and fitness programs, and that the referees will enter a period in which they will be a little more self-confident and their future concerns about refereeing will be a little less. He said, “After the recent events, there is a revision and renewal in refereeing. These are opportunities for my friends, and I think their self-confidence will increase with this.”
“PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IS DONE WITH DATA”
Stating that they are working on the performance evaluation of referees, Mayor Gündoğdu emphasized that they have created a data-based system and said, “We aimed to continue this persistently and to measure performance based on analysis and data. We have been following the performance for more than 1 year. We also plan to share this with the public. This will be an important outcome for us.”
“DO NOT MAKE THE REFEREE’S JOB DIFFICULT”
Finally, addressing the clubs and football players, Ferhat Gündoğdu said, “We all serve for the same thing. Stakeholders need to get closer to each other and be in communication. It is especially important to empathize. Our clubs can always criticize us, I request our fellow players not to choose unnatural movements that make the referee’s job difficult, spoil the beauty of the game. This puts us in a difficult situation. I want the players not to exhibit behaviors that make the referee’s job difficult and spoil the beauty of the game. Pretending to be injured puts the referees in a very difficult situation. “He can’t stop it, he can’t stop it. This slows down the tempo of the game and reduces the pleasure of watching it,” he said.